AS he lay on a hospital bed in Boston, just 48 hours or so before the start of the World Cup back in the summer, Scott McTominay could easily have felt like his dream was being snatched away from him.
Having played such a key role in helping Scotland get back to the Promised Land after 28 years in exile, McTominay was about to go under an anaesthetic for a heart procedure.
The issue became known at Scotland’s training base in Charlotte. By the time the team had flown to Boston for the opening match against Haiti, it was a matter of urgency.
McTominay was taken straight from the airport to the hospital via a police escort. Nobody would have blamed him if football had been the last thing on his mind.
Nor would anyone have blamed him if he pulled out of the squad altogether. But, after talking it through with the doctors, nothing was more certain in his own mind than that he would play.
McTominay played in all three of Scotland’s matches at the World Cup despite the procedure
Yet, nonetheless, a very obvious question remained. Was there ever any concern from his family? Was there ever a feeling that sitting it out would be the safest course of action?
‘No, I wouldn’t have listened to it [if they had said that],’ explained the Scotland midfielder. ‘All my family and friends had just flown 10 hours for the first game of the World Cup.
‘I didn’t sit there thinking I might not play. That would never be the case. I was always going to play in that game. Maybe selfishly, I don’t know but that’s football.
‘Players play with injuries all the time when they’re not quite right and it might be to the detriment of the team. I was fully functional.
‘It was in my hands. The medical team reassured me it was safe to play and they said: “What do you think?” I said: “Let’s go for it”.’
McTominay essentially needed the rhythm and beat of his heart to be reset.
The midfielder struggles during the 1-0 defeat to Morocco at Boston Stadium
Explaining the procedure in more detail, he said: ‘Atrial fibrillation is a fairly normal routine thing for people in general.
‘They might not know that they have it. But when you’re an elite athlete in general across the board, across football, across sports in general, you know if you’ve got something that’s different.
‘Whenever you’re running and you check your pulse and it’s got a slight irregular beat there, it feels like your heart’s coming out of your chest.
‘Not obviously as bad as that but that’s the sensation that you have that it’s pumping, but not a regular heartbeat that’s like: “Bum, bum, bum, bum”.
‘Mine’s going: “Bum, bu-bu-bum, bum, bu-bu-bum”. So you know the difference.
‘We went to Boston, we got a police escort to go and get the shock then that was it to be honest. After that, I was back in normal rhythm, which is how a healthy heart should be then I went and played the game two days later.
‘The heat was tough, that was probably the hardest part. But I’ve worked for 20 years as a young footballer and as a professional to get to that point. To try and play well at a World Cup.
‘If things were a bit different in the second or third game, you never know what might have happened.’
McTominay has been in fine form for Napoli this season following a further procedure
McTominay played in all three matches against Haiti, Morocco and Brazil as Scotland were knocked out at the group stage.
Many fans had questioned his form, along with other senior players like John McGinn and Andy Robertson, albeit completely oblivious to what was going on behind the scenes.
Asked for his overall reflections on the World Cup, the Napoli midfielder said: ‘It wasn’t easy. Probably two, three weeks of putting my head in the sand, thinking we let one slip. That was just the bottom line.
‘It took me longer than what I normally would do to get over disappointment in football, to know the reason why I felt like it was just because we could have done more.
‘But in general it was probably one of the worst moments of my career.
‘Then I had the surgery at the start of the season. It went well and there was no doubt in my mind I would come back from it.
‘After the operation, I had three weeks at home. I didn’t watch as much football as I normally do. Normally I watch games relentlessly every night.
‘So I had three weeks of resting my mind more than anything to try and come back in a better state. I’m feeling good now and looking forward to getting going again.’
McTominay eventually underwent corrective surgery back at the start of the season which ruled him out of Scotland’s opening four fixtures in the Nations League.
Now back on form for Napoli and back in the Scotland squad, he’s desperate to make an impact for Sebastien Pocognoli’s new-look side.
Scotland will face North Macedonia at Hampden on Friday night before rounding off their Nations League campaign with a trip to Switzerland.
So often Scotland’s talisman, he has returned ahead of the Nations League double header
McTominay spoke highly of the new head coach and has been impressed by his methods in training so far this week.
‘I like it, I like his ideas a lot,’ he said of Scotland’s new boss. ‘Whenever I first had a meeting with him, I liked the way that he wants to play the game.
‘High energy, high tempo, and obviously different ideas tactically on how to build up and the high-pressure situations we’ll find ourselves in, going against teams and trying to nick it off them and create goals that way, which is another tool in how to score goals and put the ball in the back of the opposition’s net.
‘So yeah, the early signs are really good, and he’s a great guy as well, as are his staff. I’m looking forward to it.
‘I feel like I’m a young kid that is coming back to learn as much as possible, and to try and soak it all in and help the younger ones realise the opportunity that they have in Scotland and in football in general.
‘They don’t maybe realise how far they can push themselves to break boundaries and limits in the game, and that can really pay off.’
